Darren Daulton
Darren Arthur Daulton (January 3, 1962 – August 6, 2017), nicknamed Dutch, was a catcher in Major League Baseball best remembered for his years with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was called the "Greatest Clubhouse Leader the Phillies ever had." He earned a World Series ring with the Florida Marlins in 1997. Professional career Daulton was drafted by the Phillies in the 25th round of the MLB draft. He was an all-star with the AA Reading Phillies in . On September 25, 1983, Daulton made his major league debut for the Phillies. Between 1983 and Daulton played sparingly, due much to the presence of all-star catchers Ozzie Virgil and Lance Parrish. Daulton became the Phillies' full-time catcher in . Daulton caught Terry Mulholland's no-hitter on August 15, . 1992–1993 seasons Daulton's finest season came in . That season, Daulton led the National League in runs batted in with 109. Daulton also finished in the top 10 in on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, home runs, walks, runs created, and extra base hits. Daulton's impressive season earned him his first all-star appearance, the National League Silver Slugger award, and sixth place in National League MVP voting. Daulton was one of the catalysts of the NL pennant winning Phillies. Although the Phillies lost the World Series, Daulton was again named an all-star, drove in more than 100 runs for the second consecutive season, and finished seventh in National League MVP voting. Daulton once again finished in the top 10 in on base percentage, runs batted in, walks, and extra base hits. Daulton also finished in the top 10 in times on base and intentional walks. Injury problems Unfortunately, knee injuries caught up with Daulton. In , Daulton was on pace for his best season yet when he went down for the season. Through 67 games, Daulton was hitting .300 with 15 home runs and 56 RBI. Both his batting average and slugging percentage (.549) were career highs at the time of his injury. By , injuries had clearly taken a toll on Daulton's playing ability, and although he was named to his third all-star team, he played in only 98 games, and finished the year with just 9 home runs. Daulton missed nearly the entire season due to injury, playing in just 5 games all year. Trade to the Florida Marlins In , after 17 years with the organization, the Phillies traded Daulton to the Florida Marlins. By this time, Daulton's knee injuries had forced him to change positions. After playing half of the season in Philadelphia as a right fielder, the Marlins used Daulton as a first baseman and pinch hitter. Daulton put up respectable numbers in his final season, hitting .263 with 14 home runs, 63 RBI and 68 runs scored in just 395 at bats. After the Marlins won the 1997 World Series, Daulton announced his retirement. Career statistics In 14 seasons, Daulton hit .245 with 137 home runs, 588 RBI and 511 runs scored in 1161 games. Daulton was ranked as the 25th greatest catcher of all-time by Bill James in the 2001 edition of his Historical Baseball Abstract. On August 6, 2010 Daulton was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame. Legal problems Vehicle-related charges Daulton has been arrested several times on vehicle-related charges. He was arrested for DUI in Pinellas County, Florida in 1988, and his driver's license was suspended for a year after he refused to take a Breathalyzer test. His license was also suspended in the late '90s due to unpaid speeding tickets; he received at least five during that time period, including one for traveling over 100 miles-per-hour in a 65 zone. At approximately 1AM on May 7, 1991, Daulton was riding in the red Mercedes-Benz SL500 driven by teammate Lenny Dykstra. Traveling at high speed, they crashed into a tree in Radnor Township, PA after attending a bachelor party for teammate John Kruk. Dykstra suffered broken ribs, collarbone, and a broken facial bone while Daulton injured his eye and had a broken facial bone. According to Radnor Township police, Dykstra's blood alcohol content was 0.179 at the time of the crash. While under his license suspension, he was involved in a single-vehicle accident on January 3, 2001, causing $20,000 worth of damage to his BMW sedan. He again refused to be tested, and was charged with DUI, driving with a suspended license, and failing to appear in court. Daulton claims the accident was the result of getting run off the road as a consequence of a business deal with ties to the FBI and the White House.http://web.archive.org-main.us/web/20060628000955/http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5340822 Exactly two years later, he was arrested again for driving with a suspended license and DUI, after again refusing to be tested for alcohol. Domestic violence charges Daulton was also arrested on domestic violence charges, accused of abusing his second wife Nicole, who subsequently filed for divorce. In 2004, he spent two months in jail in contempt of court after refusing to abide by the terms of a legal agreement related to the divorce. Personal beliefs Daulton holds a series of beliefs related to conspiracies, occultism, and numerology. He maintains that the universe is created and sustained by numerical synchronicities, and that all matter is charged with vibrational energy, which has escaped human perception because it is extradimensional in origin. He believes that those who are conscious of this energy can manipulate it to affect reality in different ways, such as altering the weather. He also believes that the pyramids and Mayan temples were created by a lost civilization, and that people with knowledge of the workings of the system will "ascend" at the conclusion of the Mayan calendar on Dec. 21, 2012, at 11:11 a.m. (Greenwich Mean Time), vanishing into a new plane of existence. He recently claimed in a televised interview with ESPN that he has "skipped through time" and undergone "astral travel" and will "blast into space." Daulton has authored a book on occultism and numerology, titled "If They Only Knew," published in 2007. In the book he discusses numerous aspects of occultism, referencing experts in the field, and his personal experiences. Death Daulton died from brain cancer on August 6, 2017 at age 55. See also *List of NL Silver Slugger Winners at Catcher *Top 500 home run hitters of all time *List of Major League Baseball RBI champions References External links *Darren Daulton's official website *Sports Illustrated article on Daulton's beliefs * | after = Greg Vaughn}} Category:National League All-Stars Category:Philadelphia Phillies players Category:Florida Marlins players Category:Major League Baseball catchers Category:Baseball players from Kansas Category:1962 births Category:Catchers Category:Players Category:2017 deaths